I have a Panasonic mini DV (PV-GS12). I works great, but if I inside or in low light, it is absolutely terrible. My old Sony Digital 8 is much better, but of course its bigger and a pain in other ways. I would get another mini DV camcorder if I thought others would work as well inside as my old Digital 8. Any suggestions? Is there something about my miniDV that makes it bad in low light or my Digital8 that makes it better in low light? thanks - and will HD be even worse if I do that upgrade? Like to record my sons wrestling matches
Theres is no relationshsip between low light performance and the type of media used, either it be miniDV, Digital8, DVD, HDD or whatsoever. The low light performance of the camcorder is determined by two factors. Most important one is the optical system. A very simple principle here is that how larger the lenses are the better it will perform in low light conditions. But of course the quality of the lenses themselves also play a factor. Another factor is the quality and size of the CCD. Here the same rule applies: how larger it will be how better it will perform in low light. A good source of information is to read the reviews at http://www.camcorderinfo.com They always look at low light performance.
